Virtual Forum Focuses on Africa Eye Health

The third China-Africa Eye Health Forum has been held online Photo: He Eye Hospital

The third China-Africa Eye Health Forum was held online on June 23.

Over 1,000 ophthalmologists and blindness prevention workers from 91 countries and regions took part in the event, where the conference co-presidents and participating guests answered 200 questions regarding blindness prevention in front of over 500,000 online viewers.

Officials from China’s National Health Commission and the Chinese Ophthalmological Society as well as doctors from China, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mali, Burundi, the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Australia discussed the development of eye health undertakings in Africa during the cloud-based forum.

The forum was organized by China's National Training Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Blindness, with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Orbis International and He Eye Hospital as co-hosts.

Experts hold discussions during the virtual forum Photo: He Eye Hospital

As part of the forum, experts from the National Training Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Blindness and He Eye Hospital held in-depth discussions on how to integrate resources to deal with new situations of Africa’s blindness prevention in 2020 and beyond and how to improve the overall capacity of eyecare services on the continent.

President He Wei of He Eye Hospital, President Bob Ranck of Orbis International and IAPB CEO Peter Holland served as co-presidents of the conference. Participating guests discussed ways to integrate resources to deal with new situations of Africa’s blindness prevention and plans to improve its overall eyecare service capacity with consensus reached on the direction of the future blindness prevention and treatment work.

The virtual forum helped strengthen in-depth China-Africa cooperation on eye health. Mr. He Wei said he would like to work with his colleagues for a blindness-free world and contribute more to the high-quality development of global eye health undertakings.